


Born For This

by Monkeygirl77



Series: Grumpy (Sometimes) But Kind Raphael [23]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Archangel Nephilim, Death has a heart, Healer Raphael (Supernatural), Heaven's fighting a civil war, Life for a Life, Only the Archangels can put an end to it, Self-Sacrifice, Temporary Character Death, The Universe requires payment, Trials
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-24
Updated: 2020-11-24
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:21:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,818
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27694762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Monkeygirl77/pseuds/Monkeygirl77
Summary: Heaven has fallen to war, the only ones who can put an end to the civil war is the four commanders, the four archangels, but they're dead. They're all dead. There is a way to bring them back though, but it requires a sacrifice, nothing comes for free in this universe, Life for a Life.The world needed the Archangels.Not their children.
Series: Grumpy (Sometimes) But Kind Raphael [23]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2128185
Comments: 3
Kudos: 14





	Born For This

“Did you get it?” The twins ask at the same time, Isa looks up from his place on the boulder he’d sat on, his dad’s bow clutched in his fingers, the only thing he had left of him, because of those dreaded Winchesters. Adam looks up from his dad’s trident, running his finger over the engravings, nodding along to their inquiry.

Austin nods, his father’s sword strapped to his back, and holds up his package, wrapped in browned rawhides. “I got it.”

Jack and Danny grin at each other, bumping fists, and look back at their dark-haired cousin. “What’s it say?”

“I don’t know.” The first-born’s son shrugs. “I can’t read it.”

“Well, that’s shitty.” Adam intones lazily, leaning back on his hands, seated next to the Healer’s son, resting the trident against his thigh. “Does anyone think they can read it?”

They all look around at each other, Isa sighs, raising his hand slightly. “Not to insult my Uncles, bless their souls, but my dad was the smartest Archangel.” None of them are offended by it, it was fact, Uncle Raph had been, in fact, the smartest of them all. “Maybe I can read it, he taught me how to read ancient enochian, I’m assuming that’s what Metadouche would have written in it.”

They all shrugged, and Austin passed his package to his curly haired cousin, Isa carefully pulled the flaps of the rawhide away, and ran his fingers over the ancient writings.

“You know,” Jack leaned over to whisper to his twin. “It’s almost like Grandpa knew that everything would go to shit and need to be fixed up.” Danny nods lightly. “Grandpa knew His sons like the back of His hand, I’m sure He thought this might happen, and needed a way to fix it when it did.” His twin hummed softly, curling his fingers around their dad’s horn. “You think it’ll work?” The other twin shrugged. “I don’t know. I hope it does. I miss dad.” Jack nods, watching his cousin trace the symbols with his finger, waiting for something to happen, anything, to show that it’s secrets were being revealed. “I do too.”

Neither wanted to talk about what the grapevine said it would do to them, they were willing to do anything to get their dads back, anything, even if it meant sacrificing themselves, the world needed the Archangels, it didn’t necessarily need their children.

They’d get over it eventually, possibly even have new children, they just hope they don’t become a passing though, one that only crosses through the mind when there’s a sense of déjà vu.

Fingers traced over the intricate carvings on the face of the stone tablet, following the intricate designs of the amazing, ancient symbols. His bright blue eyes widen, head snapping up, eyes staring straight ahead, eyes glowing a bright white, unnaturally, they usually glowed a bright electric blue when he was using his power, this wasn’t his, this was someone else’s power, ancient, powerful, the power of creation. The gasp that left his mouth alerted their other two cousins, their heads snapping up to watch him, his curls started to float, as though gravity was erased, and he rose from the boulder he sat on, hovering just above it, Adam yelps in surprise, reaching up to grab his arm, to pull him back down, and hisses, retracting his hand quickly, shaking it out, as it burned from the contact.

Austin jumped forward, reaching up to pry the tablet from his cousins hands, but Adam smacked his hand away, shaking his head, showing him his blistering hand, Austin retracts his hand.

“Don’t touch it, Aus, he’s…He’s burning up….I’ve never felt it before, cause, you know, I’d die, but I’m sure he’s burning almost as hot as the sun.”

Danny tilts his head. “If you’ve never touched it, how do you know he’s as hot as the sun is?” Adam glares at him, blowing on his hand, and he mimes zipping up his lips.

The Morningstar’s son turns away from him, looking to his cousin floating next to him, and shakes his head. “Disconnecting him from the tablet would be more detrimental then helpful. Removing it now wouldn’t just fry your hands to a crisp, but it could create a backlash so powerful it would not only obliterate his mind but could potentially destroy every mind within a one hundred mile radius.”

Austin spares him a glance, watching his cousin run his fingers slowly over the ancient writing, taking it all in. “How do you know?”

“Uncle Raph and Uncle Gabe protected the Prophets, I heard Uncle Gabe tell it to someone else once, when they tried to take the tablet from the Prophet.”

With that knowledge, there was nothing they could do, but watch their cousin run his fingers over the inscriptions, whatever they said, and what was written into the stone was interpreted by his mind. It became increasingly worrying, they all moved closer, prepared for the pain of yanking the table away, when his nose started dripping blood. They jumped in surprise, when out of nowhere, Isa took a deep breath, and his eyes returned to normal, falling back to his place on the boulder, his curls resting lightly in place, and he groaned, reaching to press his right hand to his head. “ _Never_ let me do that again.”

“Isa,” they let him catch his bearings for a moment, waiting for him to lower his hand, he doesn’t. “Isa?”

The eyes of the Healer’s son snapped up to eyes of Michael’s son. “What’s it say?”

“We have to go to Egypt.”

…

Austin and Adam couldn’t turn away from the twins as they bickered between each other, throwing hands around, switching between Norse and English, at their failed attempt of a prank on Adam. Lucifer’s son was so smug about it too, his arms crossed loosely over his chest, watching them smugly. No one gets one over on the son of the king of pranks, his dad _taught_ his Uncle _everything_ he knows.

He was always prepared.

“Dude! It’s hair dye, and Adam’s gross smelling shampoo! How did you confuse _my_ bottle for _his_!”

Danny, who shared his twin’s honey brown hair, now had a bright blue colored head. Jack looked up to his twin’s hair, biting his lip, trying to hold back his laughter, Adam and Austin laughing made him laugh, and Danny glared at all three of them.

Jack took a moment to calm down. “Dude, your shampoo bottle is red, and his is blue, I expected his to be the red one because his smells like roses! It makes _no_ sense that his would be the blue bottle!”

“They have _labels,_ Jack!”

Isa snorts from behind him, laying on the bed, reading a comic book. “I switched the labels.”

“Betrayed by me own _blood_!”

…

_“First, one, the first born must retrieve the Blade Of Christ, each of the four must be willing to spill their own blood and collect the fresh force of life in the jar of souls.”_

“Four?” Adam leans forward against the staff of his dad’s trident. “But, there’s five of us.”

Isa scratches the back of his head. “That’s what it says, bro, it clearly says _‘four’.”_

“Well, there are _four_ Archangels.”

Jack mumbles under his breath. _“Were_ four Archangels.” Danny elbows him in the side and Austin glares at him. He has the decency to look apologetic. This time he says something productive. “What does it mean ‘ _first born’_ , we’re all the same age.”

“I don’t know, bro, it’s not a freaking dictionary, there’s no definitions included, I’m just reading what it says.”

Danny rubs his chin, despite contrary belief, him and his brother are very intelligent _and_ insightful. “Well, if the _‘four’_ is in reference to our dads, the theoretically speaking, Uncle Micha is oldest, so that would technically make Austin _‘first born’,_ like, in a technical sort of way, don’t get big headed bro, I only listen to your orders because Adam doesn’t give them and Isa is a freelancer.”

Isa nods. “That makes sense to me.” And tosses the shovel to his cousin, Austin yelps, jumping forward to catch it. “Get digging, _‘first born’_.”

“I hate you all.” Austin turns, sticking the end of the shovel in the ground, stomps his foot on it, to dig it down deep, and scoops up a shovel full of sand. “Guys, a little help, the sand just keeps falling back in.”

The twins come to his aid, getting down on their knees, to scoop sand out with their hands. They dig a deep hole, waist deep, when they spot it. “There!”

Austin tosses the shovel aside and kneels, dusting sand off the top, curling his fingers around the iron handles, he pulls a small gold and silver chest out of the ground, sand replaces the chest in the hole that was left behind, and passes the chest up to his blonde cousin. Him and the twins climb out of the hole, with Adam and Isa’s help, and they gather around the chest, admiring the flawlessness. The _‘first born’_ was gentle as he traced the beautiful script of the ancient text carved into the lid of the ancient chest. After a few minutes of simply staring at the beautiful artifact, Adam nudges his cousin in the side a couple times with his elbow, Austin slowly and gently pulls the clasps free and lifted the lid up, opening the chest. Inside the chest was a small intricately shaped, curved knife, the blade was the purest and cleanest metal they had ever seen, it’s handle was pure gold, with a simple diamond placed on the end of the handle.

All in all, beautiful chest with a beautiful knife, a good job done, they all deserved a cookie.

In the chest, next to the beautiful knife, was a mason jar, the inside a gray color, a light glowing emanated from within, nothing special, Isa glowed too.

“The clasps are pretty cool, comrades.”

They all snort, Isa and Danny laugh softly, nudging the other twin in the side with their elbows. Adam was examining the chest, cautiously running a finger over the runes carved into the side, and Jack whispers something in Isa’s ear.

Austin stares down at the fascinating beautiful blade. This was the first step, as Isa had found, to fixing everything. To bringing their dads back. To fixing the mess in Heaven, their home, it wasn’t a home without their dads, they hadn’t been there since they’d been taken from them, and he glares down at the knife, by the Winchesters and their pet Castiel, he hated them, he’d like to throw them into a volcano or a supernova and just be rid of them, Grandfather’s fondness be damned, they took his dad from him, that was a declaration of war, in his opinion.

But, at the same time, on the side of that hopeful coin, this could kill them all. Was the world really worth the possibility of losing each other, they’ve been together as long as he can remember, does he want to separate them.

Lose his family for nothing, there’s no guarantee this will even work, and those sacrifices would have been for nothing.

Adam leaned against him. “Someone’s gotta do it, cous, it’ll be worth it.”

“Will it though, we could all die.”

“It’s a sad truth,” Isa kneels on his other side. “But the world doesn’t need us. It needs our dads. But not us. With bringing them back, for the world to have, the sacrifice would be worth it.”

The twins curl a hand around his shoulders. “We’ll do it together, cousin, because that’s what family does, and we’re a family.”

Jack tried to lighten the mood just a bit, it was getting just a bit too somber in his opinion. “Besides, we can’t let you have all the fun.” Danny nods vigorously to his twins statement, he _feels_ it, and Michael’s son smiles. Adam snorts and Isa barks a laugh, shaking his head lightly, bumping fists with the twin in question.

Austin looked around at all of them and smiles, looking back into the chest, reaching out for it. “Then, I guess I’ll go first.”

Not that it was a choice, he _had_ to go first, Isa had told them there was a specific order that they each had to give their blood in. First, Austin, because he was _‘first born’_. Then Adam, as _‘second born’_. Isa as _‘third born’._ And the twins last, as _‘fourth born’_.

The eldest’s son grips his fingers around the handle of the knife tightly, lifting it from the chest, and curled his left hand around the edge of the blade, wanting nothing more then to get it over with, he hisses as he slices his palm open, blood dripping down his hand, Adam holds the jar out, and he curls his bloody hand into a fist, holding it over the opening, watching as his blood dripped down into the dark jar.

He hissed, taking the jar from his blonde cousin, _‘second born’_ , trading it out for the knife. Adam curls his bandaged hand around the handle, curled his right hand around the blade, and made a small noise as it sliced his palm open, red blood coloring his pale skin. Austin holds the jar out to him, and he does the same as he had, clenching his fist over the opening, watching his own blood drip in.

Adam passes the knife to his cousin, Isa grips the handle tightly, biting his lap, as he slices his palm open, humming in pain, at the sting, as he holds his clenched fist over the opening of the jar in his other cousins hands, his blood smearing over the surface of the dusting jar. “Hurt’s like a bitch.”

“You can say that again.”

“Hurts like a bitch.”

His blonde cousin elbow him harshly in the side and he laughs, shaking his hand, spewing blood around, before pressing it to the front of his green shirt.

Jack takes the knife from him, slicing his palm, then holding it out to his twin, slicing his palm too when he curls his hand around the blade, they both gasp, reaching out, to squeezes their blood into the jar.

Blood drips into the sand from their hands and Austin twists the lid back on the jar, they watch it, to see if anything happens.

Adam makes a face. “That was anticlimactic.”

“Dude! Look!”

He feels like he spoke too soon, when the jar starts glowing softly, like a lantern, and they watch it in awe.

“Cooooool.”

…

_In Heaven, in a corner far away from the warring factions, inside the Armory, sat a single magnificent sword, long and narrow, the blade made of pure silver, rubies climbing up the center of the blade, runes carved into the metal, a leather handle, and a ruby stuck to the end, hung on a rack._

_It was called Glorious, the favorite weapon of the Archangel Michael, forgotten about during the civil war raging outside, this Armory impossible to enter, without the blood of an Archangel raging through your veins._

_No one was there to watch it burst into raging flames, the runes carved into the blazing blade glowing red in color, the same color as the Eldest’s grace._

…

_“Second, the second born must retrieve the Heart of the Morningstar, each sacrifice must inhale a breath of the heart, and exhale. With the Breath Of Life, the heart shall be made pure again, and beat once more, once completed the heart must be put into the Jar Of Souls, with the blood of the four, and mixed together.”_

“That’s gross, Isa.”

“Hey, I’m don’t like just as much as you do, but that’s what it says.”

Adam huffed, as he stopped digging his way into the grave, only two feet down, he had four more to go. He was breathing heavily, panting, sweat beading down his face, his face red form exertion, and leaned against his shovel to take a small break. This was hard work. His muscles ached. His burnt hand ached. The cut on his other hand ached. But it was worth it to bring his dad back. He looks up at his four cousins, sitting around him, Jack and Danny sitting on the edge of the grave, their legs dangling over the edge, eating twizzlers silently, just watching him work. Isa was perched on the tombstone, a can of Doctor Pepper resting on his knee, his dad’s bow strung over his front, over his shoulders.

“You know, if any of you want to help me, there’s no invitation, anyone can join the party.”

Austin takes a swing of his can of Coca-Cola, leaning back against the tombstone, his own legs dangling over the edge. Jack chokes on a piece of twizzler at something his twin whispered in his ear. Adam turned to look at them, his eyes narrowing, if he wasn’t in this position, and as weak as he was without his dad in the world to boost his grace, he’d have frozen them solid. Danny pat his brother on the back. Isa laughed at his predicament before looking over to his blonde cousin.

“Dude, you heard me, it says _‘the second born must retrieve the Heart Of The Morningstar’_.” He takes a sip from his drink and kicks his legs slightly. “It would be, like, breaking the rules, and you don’t break God’s rules.”

Austin nodded along with the Healer’s son. “And, your dad was a stickler about following the rules, which is odd, given who he _is_ , but I digress, what would he think if his own _son_ broke the rules dictated by God himself?”

Adam glares at them. “He’d say _‘Good job, Adam, stick it to the man’_.”

“Maybe, in your fantasies.”

He huffs. “I hate you _all_.”

Jack snorts. “No you don’t dude, you love us, you love us so much that it hurts.”

The Morningstar’s son chucks a hunk of dirt at the Messenger’s son, Jack duck’s at the last minute, and it flies over his head, laughing his little trickster heart out.

He huffs at his cousins as he turns back to the hole, groaning at his aching muscles, and began his digging anew.

He loved his cousins, he really did, but sometimes he just wanted to _freeze_ them solid, a block of ice, for like, an hour.

It took him a while, but his shovel eventually smacked against something solid, and he passes it up to the twins, they take it and set it between them, watching as he kneels over the coffin, dusting the top of off, and uses the crowbar Austin hands him to pry it open. Inside the coffin was a body, that had long since turned to ash and bone, and in the left center of the chest, was a pitch black heart, perfectly preserved. Adam was careful, as he reached out and curled his fingers around the heart, it was cold in his grasp, and he gently pulled it out of the ribcage, cautious as he rose to his feet, reaching up with his free hand, his twin cousins help tug him out of the open grave.

He climbs up over the edge when he’s close enough and sits, panting softly from the strenuous activity that was digging out four feet of dirt and prying an old rusted coffin open, the heart cradled in his hand.

The others crowded around him, staring at it in mute awe, Isa reaches over his shoulder to poke it. “Dude, that’s gross, you’d better wash your hands after this.” He shivers. “Gross.”

Austin looks up at him. “You’re the son of the _Healer_ and you think it’s _gross_.”

“Hey, okay, I only inherited his electricity and ability to control the weather, _not_ his love for healing and body parts. It’s _gross_. Eww.”

Austin looked over to the twins, when he sees them nod their heads in agreement, and shakes his head in amusement.

Adam turns to look at his Egyptian cousin. “So now….I inhale it?”

“That’s what it says.” Isa tugs on the strap of his backpack, where he has the tablet stored, Jack leans over to unzip it, to pull the Jar Of Souls out. “We all have to too, so don’t be too grossed out.”

The blonde Nephilim nods, making a face. “I think I’m gonna be sick.”

“Not until you inhale that heart and exhale into the jar, you’re not.”

He nods, turning back to look down at the heart, was it really his dad’s heart, if so, that made it so much _more_ gross. He can’t believe he’s about to do this.

It made him gag slightly.

But, whatever, sacrifices had to be made. He lifts the heart up, staring at it for a long hard moment, there’s a smell, it’s not a pleasant smell, but he can’t place what exactly the smell is, and then he inhales. A dark mist flows up from the black heart, it tingles as it enters his nose, and he shivers as it enters his lungs. It started to burn slowly, as he continued to inhale a deep breath, and he choked for a short moment. When he was sure that he had enough, he nodded, turning around, Isa holds the jar out to him, and he blows out a white mist between his lips.

He takes the jar and passes the heart to his cousin above him.

Isa makes a face, swallows thickly, and inhales, shivering as the dark mist enters his body, it tingles and burns and he chokes too, nodding down at him when he’s done, holding his breath, as he leans over to blow it out into the jar, passing the heart over to the twins.

They hold it between them, twitching as the dark mist enters, shivering just as their cousins had, and lean over, holding their breath, taking turns blowing it out into the jar, and gag after they do, Isa offers them what’s left of his Doctor Pepper to get rid of the after taste, and they take it gratefully as they pass the heart to the _‘first born_ ’.

Austin sniffs it first, and makes a face at the smell, steeling himself as he inhales deeply, the black mist flowing through his nose, and he chokes on it, as it enters his body, his eyes watering lightly, he nods, leaning over to blow it back out into the jar, and stuffs the heart in.

Adam twists the lid back on and shakes it up, the ingredients inside slosh around, and it’s the most disgusting thing they’re ever heard.

Isa smacks his lips, and they turn to look at him. “That was _so_ gross.”

…

_In the Garden, ravaged by the war, the Gardener no where to be seen, a tree in the back creaks. Fruit hangs from the branches, the fruit has no real name, but it resembles an apple, the Fruit Of Knowledge, The Forbidden Fruit, the one fruit Adam and Eve were never supposed to touch._

_The fruit glaze over, a coating of frost curling around them, until they freezes altogether, and drops from the branch, coming to rest on the grass underneath it. A serpent slithers out from behind the tree, tongue flicking around, and it’s eyes begin to glow a brilliant ice blue, weaving between the frozen fruit laying lightly on the grass._

…

 _“Third, the Third Born must retrieve the Moss Of The Saints. The sacrifice must eat the moss,-- ‘_ gross, it doesn’t say how much though, that’s not well thought out’ – _they must chew until it becomes a paste, then mixed in with the Heart Of The Morningstar, and the Blood Of The Four.”_

They make the trek up the mountain slowly, in silence, focusing on their breathing. They found it harder to breathe, every breath having begun to burn after having inhaled the dark mist from the heart, their lungs felt heavy and sore, like they were congested or something, that’s not the word they’re looking for, but you get the gist, it just feels _wrong_.

But, they can’t stop now, they can’t give up, not after making it this far, they’re over halfway there.

Isa stumbled, and would have fallen, had it not been for Austin’s quick instinct to throw his arm out, and the twins to grab at the back of his jacket, steadying him on his feet. The _‘third born’_ latched onto his cousin’s arm, nodding in thanks, Austin took the nod for what it was, and nodded in return. They continued their journey in silence, panting slightly, their chests burned, their lungs felt like they were on first, but they trudged on.

They made it to the high cave about half passed four, huffing and puffing, bending over on themselves, using their knees as support, their lungs burning in their chests.

Straightening up, Isa curls his hands around his flanks, and leans back, cracking his back, and stretches slightly, his muscles aching, the scar on his hand aching, everything ached.

Jack groaned as he flopped down, rubbing at his chest in discomfort, and groaned again.

Danny flopped down next to his twin, Austin still bent over on himself, Adam wiping sweat off his forehead. After resting a few minutes, they all straightened up, the twins stood once more, and they walked further into the cave, pulling flashlights out of the backpack hanging over Isa’s shoulders. It went deep, deep into the mountain, deeper then they’d thought it would.

They stepped out into a large cavern, it was big and wide and the top was so high. It was breathtaking, and they looked around in awe for a moment, wanting to take it all in. Adam whispered something about wanting a picture and pulled out his phone, they thought he had the right idea, and pulled out their phones to take a picture as well.

Once they’d taken their pictures, they continued on, walking forward into the cavern. In the center was a pool of water with the clearest water any of them had ever seen, they all leaned over, to get a drink of the fresh water. Looking up, they saw an opening in the cavern above them, the setting sun shone down through the hole, a single beam of light, illuminating the marble at the bottom of the pool. As they got closer, they all saw the greenest moss they’d ever seen, growing in the center of the pool. It was a bright green, a healthy plant, and they stood in the shallows of the pool, the water pooling around their ankles.

“Well, here goes nothing.” Isa shrugs off his backpack, handing it to his blonde cousin, passing him his phone too. “My dad can’t say I don’t eat my vegetables.”

“Is moss even a vegetable?”

“I don’t know man. I was just saying.” He looks around at his cousins, they each give him a thumbs up, and he turns back around. “Wish me luck.”

“Luck.”

“Luck.”

“Luck.”

“Luck.”

He nods, wading out into the pool, it grows deeper and deeper as he steps further and further, until he’s kicking his legs to keep himself afloat. Isa inhales deeply, his lungs burning, and dives under, kicking his legs and using his arms to propel him to the bottom, some feet away. Holding his breath, his lungs burning nonstop, he kneels on the pool bottom, in the green moss. It was soft, like silk, when he curled his fingers into a good amount of the moss, and heavier then he’d thought it’d be, his lungs burning even more, he gets his feet under him, and pushes off the floor of the pool, swimming his way back up.

He breaks the surface, gasping for air, his lungs were on fire, they burned so bad, like nothing else.

“Did you get it?” His dark-haired cousin calls out.

He raises his arm about his head, the moss clutched in his fingers, and they cheer at him, as he swims his way back to the shore, stumbling when his feet hit the bottom, falling forward, back under, but quickly rights himself, trudging back out.

Isa panted as he came to stand before his cousins, Adam holding the jar out at the ready, and he takes a deep breath. “Bottoms up.” And shoves the hunk off moss into his mouth, chewing vigorously, he want’s to get this over with as soon as he can. The Healer’s son gags, curling a hand over his mouth, he is not doing this again, making a face of disgust at the taste. Once it’s paste like in texture, he waves his hands, Adam passes him the jar, and he spits the pasty moss inside, gagging again, he passes it back, as he darts a few paces away and regurgitates his lunch.

_Gross._

…

_In Heaven’s Infirmary, surrounded by the bodies of lost brothers and sisters, leaning against a desk in the back of the grand hall, rests a staff. The bottom of the staff sparks gently, before it explodes, electricity curling up the length of the wooden staff, it illuminates the room, static making loose papers float slightly off the stone flooring._

…

_“The fourth, the last trial, Judgement. The Fourth Born sacrifice must retrieve the Horn Of Judgement. Each of the four must touch the horn, with the right hand, and be Judged by Justice, if they’re found worthy, their sacrifice will be accepted.”_

The Horn Of Judgement hadn’t been worth the twenty bucks that Jack had to pay the pawnshop owner for, but he had, no regrets, this was the last part, they were _so_ close. They had to finish this. Jack turned it around in his hands, looking it over curiously, before passing it to his brother, Danny did much of the same. The others crowded around to get a look too, brushing their fingers over the smooth golden instrument, Isa made a noise in the back of his throat.

“I don’t want to sound judgmental or anything, but for the horn that’s supposed to announce Judgement Day, I’d expected a bit more.”

Jack nods. “No, dude, definitely not judgmental, this is so _basic_.”

Danny nods in agreement. “Took the words right out of my mouth, clone.”

It looked like a French horn, nothing too fancy, not what they expected, but oh well, they just had high expectations.

“Well, let’s get to our final destination.”

Nobody talked about what it meant when it said their sacrifice would be accepted.

…

_Within the Messenger’s Aerie, with in an office, cluttered in scrolls, the parchments began to glow, the Word Of God, hand delivered by the Messenger and his flock. An invisible wind swept up the parchments, and they fluttered around the room, like that of a whirl wind, a tornado of parchments, before it dies, the room falling still again, and the parchments fall to rest lightly on the stone floor._

…

 _“With all trials now complete, the four sacrifices must meet at the four corner,_ -‘which just so happens to be like an hour from our currant location’- _With The Jar Of Souls, standing on the four corners, each sacrifice must drink from the Jar Of Souls_. _The four must recite; ‘Our Father, Who art in Heaven, Creator of this World, Father of Angels and Mankind, We offer our Life in the name of Fixing the wrongs that have been thrust upon Your People, take my Life oh Merciful Lord, in exchange for the Lost.’ Upon completion, the four must touch the Horn Of Judgement, and face their own, if their souls are found worthy by Justice, their sacrifices will be accepted.”_

They stand in silence for a moment, taking it all in, they were only _sixteen_ , they didn’t want to die yet.

Jack clutches at his twins hand, praying that they’d be together, even in the Afterlife. “Dad’s worth it.”

…

The others nod in agreement. They stood back and watched as Austin stood over the point, where the four corners met, they’d waited until late in the night to come out, not wanting any curious tourists to see them. Isa had told them is was November the First, poetic, given that it was All Saints Day.

Saint Michael

Saint Gabriel.

Saint Raphael

(They weren’t sure if Lucifer were ever a Saint, and Adam didn’t know, but he was one of the Lost, so they assumed it would work with him too.)

He twisted the cap off, the contents mixed perfectly together, gooey and slimy, it looked like sludge. Raising the Jar Of Souls, he curls his lips around the edge, and tilts his head back, gaging slightly as the sludge enters hit mouth, it’s thick, and gross, and he gags again, throwing a hand over his mouth to keep from getting sick. He makes a face, clenching his eyes closed, and swallows the thick sludge in one gulp.

Making a face, he steps forward, passing the Jar Of Souls to his blonde cousin.

Adam looks down at the sludge, raises the Jar Of Souls as though to offer a silent _‘cheers’_ , and brings it to his lips. He chokes, when the foul substance enters his mouth, and when he pulls the Jar Of Souls away, he too claps a hand over his mouth, gagging behind the mouthful of sludge. Jack cheers him on softly, and he swallows, giving them a thumbs up.

Gagging again, he steps away, holding the Jar Of Souls out to his curly haired cousin.

Isa stands in the center, where his two cousins had previously, and stares down at the sludge in silence. Inhaling deeply, his lungs burning, he pinches his nose as he brings the Jar Of Souls up, and takes his own sip of the foul sludge. Like the others had, he too curls his hand around his mouth when he heaves, to make sure he doesn’t spit it out, and he takes another deep breath, clenching his eyes shut as he swallows, it slides down his throat, and it makes him gag again, but stays down.

Rubbing his lips with the back of his sleeve, he steps forward, holding the Jar Of Souls out to the Twins.

They stand together, where the four corners meet, staring at each other for a moment, they’ve never been apart, they did everything together, they didn’t want to be parted in death, but they’re dad was worth it.

All of their dads were worth it.

Jack takes his sip first, his hand curled tightly around his twins, and makes a face as he passes it over, swallowing thickly. Danny drops the Jar Of Souls, not empty of it’s contents, to smack a hand over his mouth, gagging and heaving, his twin turns, curling his own hand over his mouth too, and he nods, swallowing the sludge in one gulp.

…

They find an empty field, they don’t know what will happen exactly, but they don’t want any possible passersby or structures to fall under harm from their experiment.

The Archangels Nephilim stand in a huddle, staring at each other, looking between each other in silence. This was it, this was the end of the trials, they’d made it, they’d completed it, this was it.

Isa pulls his backpack off, holding it open, for one of the Messenger’s sons to take the horn. Jack reaches in, curling fingers around the smooth metal, and pulls it out.

The Healer’s son drops the backpack between them and looked around at his cousins. “Ready?”

They share a nod, and reach out, with their right hands, as they were instructed to, and each touch a place on the Horn Of Judgement. It glows under their touch, and they stand straighter, as primordial power washes over them. Images flood before them, for them all to see, Isa killing people and the faces of those saved by those lives taken flash before them. Jack being turned into a wolf, the Pagan gods laughing as he turns, chasing after his brother, tearing him apart piece by piece. Danny using his pagan magic to hold up a collapsing building, allowing the people to crawl out from underneath, before losing control, and being devoured by the debris. Austin causing Mount Vesuvius to Erupt, the people running away for their lives, Lava consuming the country side. Adam choosing Humanity over his own father, choosing to save Life instead of taking it, refusing to let the enraged Morningstar erupt havoc among the world.

Images flash before them, like a movie playing on fast forward, it’s them watching their lives flash before their eyes, every little action leading to their final Judgement.

The Horn Of Judgement glows brighter, the movie between them speeding faster and faster, faster then they can keep up with. It burns their hands, but still they hold on, fighting passed the pain, this was their only chance, they’re weren’t going to let it go for nothing.

Then it explodes, light consuming them, a Cosmic Boom echoes through the Universe, and they’re thrown back from the force of the explosion.

Isa lands on his side, his head banging against the ground harshly, it rocks his vision, growing blurrier and blurrier. He feels something trickling down his cheek, cool, and a rain drop falls into his outstretched burnt hand, he’s crying, that’s a tear trickling down his cheek. How poetic. _I love you, dad._ He feels his heart slowing down, it doesn’t hurt, he just grows tired, sleep sound nice, a nice long sleep, and his eyes slowly close, with the feeling of raindrops falling over him.

Austin rolls to a stop, laying on his back, his arms spread around him, his hand burns, it burns badly. He stares up at the stars, peeking out from behind the gathering clouds, little balls of gas, so bright, he loves the stars, he feels his chest growing heavier and heavier, it’s getting harder and harder to breathe, he’s happy, his dad will be back, and the last thing he’ll see is the stars. _I love you, dad, please forgive me._ He feels his breaths growing shorter and shorter, until he exhales, and he falls still.

The twins land on their sides, facing each other, good, the last thing they want to see is each other, their other half, their shared soul, the part that makes them whole. Slowly, weakly, they reach out, reaching out a hand to each other, it grows slower, their movement grows sluggish. Danny feels a tear trickle down his cheek when Jack stops moving, his chest falls, but doesn’t rise, his eyes glassing over, he wants his twin to be the last thing he sees, his brother, his other half, his best friend in the whole world, his partner in crime, his soulmate. He reaches, his fingers crawling across the grass slowly, until they brush over his brother’s, and he exhales slowly, he’s content, he’s ready, he’s going to be okay, he can feel his brother, his cold fingertips, and he’s okay. _I love you, dad, we’re sorry._

Adam lands on his stomach, his arms resting on either side of his head, his vision in dimming, he can feel himself slowly fading, he blinks, when the raindrops falling into view freeze into snow. He loves the snow, he loves the cold, he’s most at home in the cold. His dad taught him how to make snowflakes when he was ten. It was his favorite memory, his most favorite, out of all of them. _I love you, dad, I’ll miss you._ He feels his eyelids growing heavy, his breathing becoming shallow, and he closes his eyes, he’s ready, he’ll be okay, he’s not scared.

…

Castiel looks up, straightening in his seat, feeling the shift in the Universe, the grace of Creation hums in his ears, resonates in his grace. Someone has completed the trials, their sacrifice accepted, a Life for a Life.

“Cas, everything okay?”

He looks down at the voice, Dean Winchester raises an eyebrow at him, Sam looks up over his book at them. “Yes, everything is okay.” He tilts his head. “Heaven is in mourning.”

Sam raises an eyebrow. “Why?”

“Because, their sacrifice was accepted.”

“Who’s?”

“The five princes.”

…

Around the Infirmary, eyes open, glowing with grace, their wounds sealing themselves, and slowly they sit up, looking around in silence. Their heads turn at the light, a silhouette of raw electricity taking form behind the deceased Archangel’s desk, a glowing hand reaches out for the staff, currents of lightning twirling around it, the electricity begins to recede, a dark hand closed around the staff, rising up the arm, glowing blue eyes stare at them, fading into a warm emerald green.

They stare at each other, none of them saying a word, none are sure what they’re supposed to say.

Raphael blinks first, looking down at himself, he had been dead, he _knows_ he had been, killed by Castiel’s hand.

And, now, he was _not_.

The Archangel looks up to his healers, slowly climbing to their feet, unsteady, some fall back over. “What happened?”

Some look up at him, look to each other, then back to him. “A Life for a Life.”

His eyes widen.

…

A bright light fills the church, growing brighter and brighter, it devours the room, frost crawls over the floor, ice climbing up the walls, devouring the body on the floor. Bright ice blue eyes snap open, and they sit up, the ice cracking and breaking off his body.

Shaking his head, he feels his chest, humming when he finds no wounds, perfectly healthy.

He’d been dead only _moments_ ago.

…

Golden eyes snap open, flashing brightly, he’s laying on his back, in the middle of a field, raindrops fall over his face slowly. His hand crawls over the grass under him, until they brush over something smooth, and he raises an eyebrow, running his fingers over the object.

 _His horn_.

Rubbing at his face, he closes his eyes, and he pushes himself up, fingers curling around his horn, pulling it closer, he’d lost this old thing a while ago, he’s not making that mistake again.

He opens his eyes, to catch his bearings, to see where he’s at, and what he sees, what he sees tears the breath from his chest, as he looks around him, and he curls a hand over his mouth.

…

Warriors inhale deeply, eyes flying open, staring up at the sky above them, dark clouds rolling over head. Raindrops spill over, raining down on them, and slowly, they push themselves up, looking around with wide eyes.

Someone steps out of the shadows, under the Pavilion, and their eyes widen.

Michael looks around at them, he stares, they stare, no one knows what to say.

They were dead, until they weren’t.

…

He pushes himself to his feet, dropping his horn to the grass under him, spinning in a slight slow circle to see them all, staring at their still forms, laying on the grass, as the rain slowly starts to pour over them from above, its like God Himself is in mourning.

“Hello, Gabriel.”

The Messenger turns at the voice, tearing his off of them, and sees him, dressed in all black, a cane in his right hand, standing with him in the middle of the field. His dark eyes look around them, taking in the bodies laying around them, and bows his head slightly.

Death.

“They were an _interesting_ bunch.” The somber quiet man returns his gaze onto him. “They sacrificed themselves for you and yours.” He sighs softly. “The world needs the Archangels, they said, not their children.”

Gabriel steps closer, halting when Death raises a hand, but stares at him with wide eyes. “Give them back.”

“I can’t.” The Horsemen looks around at them again. “They chose to exchange their lives for yours. Their sacrifice was accepted.”

He shakes his head. “They’re _children._ ”

“Children die every day, Gabriel.” The older man shakes his head. “Though, these ones, I will miss these ones, but I cannot make an exception for a few and no one else.”

“ _Please_ , we are nothing without them, _please_.”

Death sighs softly. “Call your brothers, Gabriel, they should be able to say their goodbyes.”

…

The Healer cradles his son against him, his back resting against his chest, his arms wrapped around his limp form, the boy’s curls rub against the side of his head as he bows his head against his shoulder, his tears dripping into the fabric of his long sleeve shirt. He can’t imagine a world without having this little Nephilim at his side, he _can’t_ imagine one, this child _is_ his world. Everything he lives for, is this child, the one that holds his heart in his two small hands.

He ignores the Horseman standing in the center of them, his brothers sitting with their own children, holding them close, unable to come to terms that this is the last time they will be able to.

The Archangel hears Death sigh.

Raphael starts, when the boy flies forward, pressing against his arms, inhaling a deeply, electricity swirls over his body for a moment before fading. He looks around, as the boy in his arm gasps for breath, the others following suit, eyes wide, shining with grace, chests heaving for air.

Frost climbs up Adam’s arms, over his hair, and Lucifer breaths a quiet sob, he’ll deny it later, but it’s heard, as he hugs him closer, burying himself into his shoulder. The boy’s frost covered hand reaches up slowly, fingers curling in the Morningstar’s hair, and Lucifer curls around him tighter.

Magic swirls around the twins, as they inhale, straightening from their father’s arms, their hands meet and there’s a small flash, their souls reconnecting. Gabriel gives a cry, pulling them back again, fingers curling in the front of their shirts, and their hands curl around his.

Flames erupt from Austin’s hands, Michael yelps, looking down in surprise, as the boy sits up quickly, inhaling a deep breath. His oldest brother curls his arms around the boy’s, curling his hands around his small ones, extinguishing the flames, and the boy turns slightly, looking up at him, saying something, he can’t hear what it is, but his brother nods, holding him closer.

Raphael looks back down when he feels the movement, he smiles, meeting the bright blue eyes of his child, Isa smiles up at him. “Hey, dad.”

“Hello, my little one.”

The Nephilim raises his arms to curl around him in return. “I love you, dad.”

He smiles, pressing his lips to the boy’s cheek, before pressing their cheeks together. “I love you too, my little one.”

Death smiles slightly, to himself, and looks about himself. Sometimes, he can make exceptions.

Besides, who else would join him around the world trying all the different foods and delicacies.


End file.
